If we approach adversities wisely, our hardest times can be times of greatest growth, which in turn can lead toward times of greatest happiness...Come what may, and love it! -Joseph B. Wirthlin

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

At last... the day has come

I know many of you were wondering, maybe not as often as my wife was, when this day would finally come. Well, the wait is over!! Kelly and I welcomed our newborn son (he came first) and daughter (second - so she is officially the baby) into our family on Monday morning bright and early. I am pretty sure that seeing as how this is my first ever blog posting I am bound to leave something out, so... I will give you some of the highlights and let Kelly fill you in with the details as soon as she comes home.

(Late Sunday evening)Kelly was having labor pains around 11:30 or so - 6 contractions in the first hour and 12 in the second hour.

(Very, very early Monday morning)Kelly woke me up at 2:30 and said "We're going to the hospital". We call our lifesaver of a neighbor, Elaine to come and watch the kids (Raef, Zach and Eli) while we take a quick trip to the hospital... which turns out to be not such a quick trip.

(Very early Monday morning)We arrive at the hospital around 3:15 am. A number of things were done in an attempt to see if Kelly's contractions could be slowed down of which, none worked. So... around 4:30 we heard the words "we're going to deliver these babies in about an hour".

(Early Monday morning)As aforementioned, the boy came first - at 5:31 a.m. weighing in at 7 lbs and 1 oz measuring 19 and 3/4 inches long. Then came along the girl - at 5:32 a.m. weighing in at 5 lbs even measuring 18 inches. Both with a good amount of hair.

Girl - Julia Linda Erickson is named after Kelly's great, great grandmother Julia (mom's side) and my mother Linda. I know there were a number of you out there waiting to hear names... we tried not to let it out of the bag too early.

Mom and babies are doing well and it is anticipated that they will all come home on Thursday. I stayed last night with Kelly and Julia in our room - feeding, changing, burping, holding and sleeping (a little). As for Harry... he had a little trouble breathing on his own at first (some fluid in his lungs) and was admitted to the NICU. He was placed on a ventilator for a while but is now breathing on his own and the outlook is very positive.

Here are a few more pictures:

Eli pointing at his new baby sister.

She really is a cute little peanut isn't she?

The proud new big brothers... Raef holding Julia.

Raef holding Julia with Eli and me soaking it all in...

I know Kelly is looking forward to posting her own, more accurate version with even more color and detail. I just hope this gives you all the update you were looking for. Wish us luck - with 5kids now, I know we are going to need it.

So, I only beat Kelly by 3 days. I'm glad she was able to hold them in so long and that they are doing so well!!! Rinar you did a great job with the post and Andrew says "welcome to the father of five group." Let us know when everyone is home.

What a beautiful miracle, after such a long process! I still remember the post about all the shots. The babies are blessed to come to such a great family, where they'll be loved and treasured. Rinar, great post, but now Kelly knows you can do it, you might have to do it more often. Congrats!